Folding boat



March 27, 1956 2,739,321

L. G. R. R. DE VILLENEUVE LA COLETTE FOLDING BOAT Filed Sept. 25, 1952 Louis ('xibxd 'Raoul Redmond we \Imenewe k. cmefle,

Unite tts FOLDING BOAT Louis GerardRaoul Raimond de Villeneuve La Colette, Paris, France 7 Claims. (Cl. -2)

My inventionrelates to a folding boat to be used for sporting or life-saving purposes.

My boat includes a hull made of a flexible material, e, g. suitably cut out pieces of plastic sheet material assembled and'cemented together and a plurality of air tubes adapted tostifien the hull to its normal shape while providing for the necessary buoyancy of the boat in the event same should. become flooded.

A first feature of my invention resides in the fact that in the inflated state of the air tubes the length of the same is slightly larger than that of the hull, so that once set in position within the hull and inflated they will arch up and thereby how the whole hull, with the result that the tendency for the latter to sag on account of the weight of the pilotisiefiectively counteracted.

A further feature of my invention resides in the fact that the said air tubes are retained in their middle portions in position within the hull by means of sleeves while their ends find a firm rest in the fore and aft ends. of the craft;

Still another feature of my invention resides in the fact that the air tubes are removably fitted in said sleeves and can easily be passed therethrough before they are inflated and pulled out and removed once deflated.

A preferred embodiment of an inflatable boat according to my invention, in which a pair of air tubes are used which run along either board of the boat and between which a space is left for the accommodation of the occupant, will be described hereinafter, reference being had to the appended drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the boat in sea-going condition.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the boat.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the hull alone.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an air tube alone.

As shown in the drawing, a boat according to my invention includes a hull composed of a deck portion a and a bottom portion b cemented or secured in any desirable way to one another along a line c-d.

Said hull is made of any suitable flexible sheet material, e. g. sheet plastic or waterproof fabric.

Cut in the deck of the boat hull in an opening e for the pilot to get in.

The deck portion at either side of the opening is curled and secured to the bottom portion along a line f to provide a sleeve g.

Extending through said sleeves are the air tubes h.

Said tubes are likewise made of a flexible fluid-tight material and, as shown, formed with taper ends. They are provided with valves 1' to be stuck through holes j perforated in the sleeves.

In the inflated condition of the air tubes same are slightly longer than the hull, with the result that due to the pressure of the air forced thereinto they will assume an arched shape.

Since the bottom portion is less extensible than the deck portion owing to the presence of an opening in the 2. latter, the concave sides of the tubes will face downwards and the boat hull swell upwards as clearly visible in Fig. 2.

Owing to the tubes andhull assuming such a shape, the tendency for the whole boat to sagby reason of the presence of the occupant is elfectively counteracted.

Since the air tubes'are loose from the sleeves in which they are retained in their inflated condition they can easily be taken outfor inspection once sufliciently deflated.

It will be ,appreciated that a free space is left between either air tube for the occupant to sit in, and in which he is firmly maintained by thetwo tubes.

In a particularly narrow boat the pilot willbe squeezed between the air tubes and to someextent made fast there-. with, so that he is less likely to be dashed. overboard by a wave. Such asqueezing action is assisted bythat of occupants own weight. Owingto the presence of the hull-stiffening air tubes the tendency for. the boat to knee in its middle dueto the weight of the occupant is effectively counteracted,,instead of which theshape assumed by the boat is as shownin Fig. 2.

The air tubes may be cylindricaland provided. with cone-shaped ends. as already stated, instead of which theymay vary in diameter along their length, notably where the occupant. has to avail of a wider seat.

In-order to-pack the boat for shipment the air tubes are deflated, and removed and the hull folded,,the whole to-a compact balewhichislight in weight due to the character of the material the boat is made of.;

Owing totheslendershape of the boat same can be paddled much moreswiftly than pneumatic water craft of the same kind while remaining well steerable.

It is to beernphasi-zed that, no rigid member liable to break is included in thestructure of the boat.

Moreover, owing to the character of the materials, the boat according to my invention is indifferent to the actions of soft as well as salt water and of decay.

The boat possesses a considerable buoyancy and is able to brave rough seas on which it would be right perilous to venture a folding boat of any other known design.

What I claim is:

l. A pneumatic boat comprising, in combination, an elongated flexible hollow hull member having a predetermined length; a pair of separate elongated inflated air tubes consisting of a flexible material, each air tube having a length greater than said predetermined length of said hollow hull member, said air tubes being located in said hollow hull member extending in longitudinal direction thereof and having ends engaging and abutting against the ends of said hollow hull member so that the center portions of said air tubes arch upwardly due to the greater length of said tubes; and retaining means attaching said center portion of each of said tubes to said hollow hull member, whereby upward arching of said air tubes will result in upward arching of said elongated flexible hollow hull member and tensioning thereof in such upwardly arched condition.

2. A pneumatic boat comprising, in combination, an elongated flexible hollow hull member having a predetermined length, said hollow hull member including a bottom portion, and a deck portion formed with a central opening, said deck portion including strip-shaped portions extending laterally of said central opening; a pair of separate elongated inflated air tubes consisting of a flexible material, each tube having a length greater than said predetermined length of said hollow hull member, said air tubes being located in said hollow hull member extending in longitudinal direction thereof and having ends engaging and abutting against the ends of said hollow hull member so that the center portions of said air tubes arch upwardly due to the greater length of said tubes and engage said strip-shaped portions of said deck portion;

and retaining means attaching said center portion of each of said tubes to said strip-shaped portions of said hollow hull member, whereby upward arching of said air tubes will result in upward arching of said elongated flexible hollow hull member and tensioning thereof in such upwardly arched condition.

3. A pneumatic boat as claimed in claim 2 wherein said retaining means are a pair of flaps, each flap constituting an inwardly projecting extension of said stripshaped portions, and being bent around one of said air tubes and having a free end secured to the inner surface of said hull member.

4. A pneumatic boat as claimed in claim 3 wherein said flaps are integral with said deck portion of said hull memher.

5. A pneumatic boat comprising, in combination, an elongated flexible hull member having a predetermined length, said hull member including a bottom portion and an upwardly bulging deck portion formed with a central opening; a pair of elongated inflated air tubes consisting of a flexible material, each air tube having a length greater than said predetermined length of said hull member, said air tubes being located in said hull member and having ends engaging and abutting against the ends of said hull member so that the center portions of said air tubes arch upwardly due to the greater length of said tubes and engage the inner surface of said deck portion and support the same spaced from said bottom portion; and retaining means attaching said center portions of said tubes to said hull member, whereby upward arching of said air tubes will result in upward arching of said elongated flexible hull member and tensioning thereof in such upwardly arched condition.

6. A pneumatic boat comprising, in combination, an elongated flexible hull member having a predetermined length, said hull member including a bottom portion and an upwardly bulging deck portion formed with a central opening; a pair of elongated inflated air tubes consisting of a flexible material, each air tube having a length greater than said predetermined length of said hull member, said air tubes being located in said hull member and having ends engaging and abutting against the ends of said hull member so that the center portions of said air tubes arch upwardly due to the greater length of said tubes and engage the inner surface of said deck portion and support the same spaced from said bottom portion; and a pair of flaps, each fiap secured at one end thereof to said deck portion and at the other end thereof to the inner surface of said hull member, and being bent around said center portion of one of said air tubes, said flaps attaching said center portions of said tubes to said hull member, whereby upward arching of said air tubes will result in upward arching of said elongated flexible hull member and tensioniug thereof in such upwardly arched condition.

7. A pneumatic boat comprising, in combination, an elongated flexible hollow hull member having a predetermined length; a pair of separate elongated inflated air tubes consisting of a flexible material, each air tube having a length greater than said predetermined length of said hollow hull member, said air tubes being located in said hollow hull member extending in longitudinal direction thereof and having ends engaging and abutting against the ends of said hull member so that said air tubes arch upwardly due to the greater length of said tubes; and retaining means attaching each of said tubes to said hollow hull member, whereby upward arching of said air tubes will result in upward arching of said elongated flexible hollow hull member and tensioning thereof in such upwardly arched condition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,672,473 Scheibert June 5, 1928 1,891,491 Anderson Dec. 20, 1932 2,156,175 Brown Apr. 25, 1939 2,338,976 Schutte Jan. 11, 1944 

